Import Data from External Systems

Summary

The Data Import page lets you migrate data from your previous garage management system into Torqueflow. You upload CSV or Excel files, the system automatically detects what each file contains, and you preview and approve the data before importing. The page supports customers, vehicles, work orders, job notes, products, suppliers, labour units, invoices, and payments. The import page is at Settings > Import Data.

Prerequisites

• You must have the settings.import.manage permission. Users without this permission are redirected to the dashboard.
• Your export files must be in CSV (.csv) or Excel (.xlsx) format.
• Currently supported source system: Techman.

Steps

Upload files

1. Navigate to Settings > Import Data. The page title is “Import Data” with subtitle “Import customers and data from external systems”.
2. The “Upload Import Files” card shows a drag-and-drop zone with the text: “Drop your files here, or click to browse”. Accepted formats are .csv and .xlsx files.
3. Drag files onto the drop zone, or click to open a file picker. You can upload multiple files at once.
4. Each selected file appears in a list below the drop zone showing the file name and size. Press the X button to remove a file.
5. If any selected files are Excel (.xlsx) files, an Excel Password field appears. Enter the password from Techman’s second email. Leave blank if the file is not password-protected.
6. Press the Upload & Detect Files button (or “Upload & Detect 3 Files” if 3 files are selected, for example). The button shows a spinner with “Uploading & Detecting…” during processing.
7. A file size limit applies per file. If a file exceeds the limit, an error message appears below the drop zone.

Review detection results

1. After upload, the page shows Detection Results with the heading “The system has identified what each file contains”.
2. Each file appears as a detection card showing:
   • The file name.
   • The detected file type (e.g. “Techman Full Customers & Vehicles”, “Techman Full Jobs”).
   • The entity types detected (e.g. customers, vehicles, work orders).
   • The row count.
   • A confidence indicator.
3. Files that cannot be identified show as unrecognised. Press the X button on any detection card to remove it from the import run.
4. A Detection Summary section below the cards shows an overview of all detected entities and row counts.
5. Press Proceed to continue (or the button navigates you to the import run detail page for multi-file uploads, or directly to the preview page for single customer file uploads).
6. Press Upload New Files to discard results and start again.

Review the import run

1. For multi-file uploads, the Import Run page shows all detected files in the run.
2. The page header shows how many files were uploaded and how many data sources were recognised.
3. Each file in the run is listed with:
   • File name.
   • Detected file type label.
   • Entity type badges with row counts.
   • A status indicator (e.g. pending, ready, importing, completed, failed).
   • A View link to open the file’s preview page.
4. An Import Mode card shows whether the system detected this as an “Initial Import” (no previous imports) or “Refresh Import” (previously imported records found).
   • For refresh imports, the card shows the count of previously imported records and an entity breakdown.
   • A “Force initial import instead” (or “Force refresh import instead”) link lets you override the mode. A confirmation dialog warns about the consequences.

Preview customer data

1. Click a customer file to open the preview page. The Import Preview header shows the file name, source system, and total record count.
2. Three summary cards show counts:
   • Ready to Import (green tick) - valid records.
   • Needs Review (amber warning) - records with minor issues.
   • Invalid (red cross) - records that must be fixed or skipped before importing.
3. Below the summary, an action bar shows either:
   • A red warning: “[count] invalid records must be fixed or skipped before importing”.
   • A green prompt: “[count] records ready to import” with a Start Import button.
4. Use the Records tabs to switch between “Ready to Import”, “Needs Review”, and “Invalid” views.
5. The records table has columns: checkbox, row number (#), First Name, Last Name, Company, Email, Phone, Postcode, Issues (on review/invalid tabs), and Actions.
6. Use the Search records… field to filter. Matching terms are highlighted in yellow.
7. Click column headers to sort ascending or descending.

Edit records inline

1. Click the pencil icon on any row to enter edit mode. The fields become text inputs.
2. Change the values as needed (first name, last name, company, email, phone, postcode).
3. Press the green tick to save, or the red X to cancel.
4. After saving, the record is re-validated and may move to a different tab (e.g. from “Invalid” to “Ready to Import”).

Handle duplicates

1. If the system detects potential duplicates, a Duplicate Resolution panel appears above the records table.
2. For each potential duplicate, you can choose:
   • Skip - do not import this record.
   • Merge - merge with the existing customer record.
   • Import as new - create a separate new record.
3. Exact duplicates are auto-skipped. An info banner shows: “[count] duplicate records were automatically skipped because they exactly match existing customers.”

Use bulk actions

1. Select records using the checkboxes. A bulk action bar appears showing the selected count.
2. Press Approve Selected to mark records as valid.
3. Press Skip Selected to exclude records from the import.
4. Press Clear Selection to deselect all.
5. When all records on a page are selected and more exist, a banner reads: “All [count] records on this page are selected.” with a link to “Select all [total] records in this tab”.

Start the import

1. Once no invalid records remain, press the Start Import button on the action bar.
2. The page redirects to the Import Progress view showing:
   • The file name.
   • A real-time progress indicator.
   • Counts for imported, skipped, and failed records.
   • Start and completion timestamps.

Preview other file types

1. Customers & Vehicles (Full Export) - shows a combined preview of customer and vehicle data.
2. Work Orders (Jobs.csv) - shows work order preview data. If a JobNotes.csv file exists in the same upload, notes are imported automatically as Phase 2 of the work orders import.
3. Products - shows product preview data.
4. Suppliers - shows supplier preview data.
5. Labour Units - shows labour unit preview data.
6. Invoices (Jobs.csv, PartsOnlySales, CarSales) - shows a financial preview with invoice data.
7. Payments (JobPayments, PartsOnlyPayments, CarSalePayments) - shows a financial preview with payment data.
8. Job Notes - shown as informational only. Notes are imported as part of the work orders import, not independently.

Review import results

1. When the import completes, the Import Summary page shows:
   • File name, source system, and status (completed or failed).
   • Counts for imported, updated, unchanged, skipped, failed, and conflict records.
   • Import mode badge (Initial or Refresh).
   • Start and completion timestamps.
   • An error log if any records failed.
2. A Quality Report section may appear below the summary showing data quality metrics.
3. For the import run, a Reconciliation Report shows a per-entity-type breakdown:
   • Columns: Entity Type, Created, Updated (refresh mode), Unchanged (refresh mode), Skipped, Failed, Conflicts (refresh mode), Quality score.
   • A totals row at the bottom.
   • Colour-coded count badges: green (created), blue (updated), grey (unchanged), amber (skipped), red (failed), orange (conflicts).

Rollback an import

1. On the import run page, if the run status is “completed” or “completed with errors”, a Rollback button appears.
2. Press Rollback and confirm in the dialog. Created records are removed. The reconciliation report updates to show rolled-back counts with strikethrough styling.

View import history

1. Below the upload form on the main import page, the Import History section lists all previous import runs.
2. Each entry shows:
   • Date and time.
   • Import mode badge (“Initial” or “Refresh”).
   • Status badge (colour-coded).
   • File count and total record count.
   • Entity type badges with counts (e.g. “1,234 customers”, “567 vehicles”).
3. Click any row to view the import run detail page.
4. Use Previous and Next buttons to paginate through history.

Expected Outcome

Data from your previous system is imported into Torqueflow. Customers, vehicles, work orders, products, suppliers, labour units, invoices, and payments are all available in the system. Any duplicates are resolved, and a reconciliation report confirms what was imported.

Troubleshooting

Problem: File is not recognised after upload

Cause: The file format or column structure does not match a known export format. Fix: Check that the file is a genuine Techman export in CSV or Excel format. Ensure no columns have been renamed or removed. Unrecognised files can be removed from the import run.

Problem: “File size exceeds the limit” error

Cause: The file is larger than the maximum allowed size per file. Fix: Split large exports into smaller files, or contact support for assistance with very large datasets.

Problem: Excel password field appears but file is not encrypted

Cause: The system detected an .xlsx file and shows the password field by default. Fix: Leave the password field blank and proceed with the upload.

Problem: Many records show as “Invalid”

Cause: Records have data quality issues such as missing required fields, invalid email addresses, or malformed phone numbers. Fix: Use the “Invalid” tab to review issues. Each record shows issue badges with the type and field (e.g. “missing data: email”). Edit records inline to fix them, approve records to accept as-is, or skip records to exclude them.

Problem: Import stuck on “Importing” status

Cause: A large dataset is being processed, or a server error interrupted the import. Fix: Wait for processing to complete. The progress view updates in real time. If it stalls for more than 10 minutes, navigate back and try again. Contact support if the issue persists.

Problem: Wrong import mode detected

Cause: The system detected previous import mappings (or lack thereof) and chose the wrong mode. Fix: On the import run page, use the “Force initial import instead” or “Force refresh import instead” link to override the detected mode. Read the confirmation dialog carefully before proceeding.

Permissions

Action	Required capability
Access import page	settings.import.manage
Upload and import data	settings.import.manage
Rollback an import	settings.import.manage

Notes

• The import system auto-detects file contents. You do not need to manually select a source system or file type.
• For Techman full exports, the system handles multiple related files (e.g. Jobs.csv and JobNotes.csv) as a single import run with cross-file relationships preserved.
• Refresh mode compares incoming data against previously imported records and only updates fields that have changed. Unchanged records are counted but not modified.
• Rollback removes only the records created by that specific import run. Records that were updated (in refresh mode) are not reverted.
• The quality score in the reconciliation report indicates data completeness and validity as a percentage.
• Import history is paginated at 20 runs per page.